Devotissimo suo, Sarah: Czech me out

As of today, February 7th, I have been at my program for one month! I cannot believe how fast time is going. I wish I was able to update more frequently, but I just never seem to find the time. This past weekend I went to Prague (or as the Czechs say, Praha). English speakers! I mean, most of them are fairly fluent anyway. I still said gratzie and ciao to everyone though. In the habit it seems.

Six other friends from the Villa and I began our adventure Thursday night. We were going through a program called Florence for Fun and met them at the train station in Florence and hopped on the bus for a brief bus ride through a few countries up to Prague. By brief I mean it was 12 hours. Unfortunately I could not get comfortable and was unable to sleep really, but this turned out to be okay since this past weekend I learned the amazing powers of a good cup of joe. And I drank it black each time. I am just growing up so fast. Tear.

We arrived at a FOUR STAR HOTEL around 8am Friday. Not that I have really been roughing it, I mean I live in a beautiful villa and have only stayed at a couple hostels, but it really was quite a treat. A full size shower! I could actually lather shampoo in my hair before it rinsed out because I can't get away from the spraying water. And hot breakfast! I had practically died and gone to heaven and I hadn't even seen the city yet. So after freshening up a bit we went on a walking tour with a fantastic tour guide from Prague. The weather really wasn't too bad, but for some reason we were all pretty certain we were going to lose our toes because they were so cold. After walking around the city for a couple hours with the tour guide we were left on our own to explore. We decided to go to the communism museum which was very fascinating, but really quite sad to realize how such a short time ago things were for this country. For dinner the whole group went to this nice traditional Czech restaurant. Naturally, since I love to try new foods and am very adventurous in any situation..."hamburger please." But it was made in Prague! I also indulged in my first Czech beer. The Czechs are very proud of their beer--Pilsner--and claim to brew the best in the world. And in their defense, it was pretty delicious. After dinner we were pretty wiped, so we headed back to the hotel.

Saturday morning walked to the Charles Bridge, the John Lennon Wall, and the castle. The weather was perfect and we had such a great day. One of my favorite activities was spot the Italian. Now we weren't the only foreigners! You can spot them immediately by their outerwear--these fashion gurus are all either wearing giant fur coats or giant shiny puffy jackets. These may or may not include fur. We met a few girls on the trip and they introduced us to a tradition they have had since they arrived in Italy last September. Every major site they see, they form a human pyramid in front of it and take a picture. We joined in and got some stellar pictures all over the city. One of the best was probably at the club we went to that night in the middle of the dance floor. The girl who was the top of the pyramid though may or may not have given the fellow clubbers behind her a bit of an extra show, so we hightailed it out of that room immediately post-picture. Pre-club we went to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. In the essence of saving money and my waistline, I opted for an appetizer. After receiving my bill and doing a little conversion number, I realized my dinner and drink was a whopping $28. So if a Hard Rock Cafe employee happens to come across my blog and reads this far, I have a bone to pick with you. But overall, the day was one of my favorites thus far in my semester.

After a bit of a late night, we went back to the hotel to try and get some sleep before what was to be a long day and night ahead. The next morning we got up and ready, had breakfast then got on the bus for the return trip back to our home away from home in Florence. Most of us were pretty set on spending the majority of the bus ride back working on homework, but then they turned the first movie on and it was Ferris Bueller's Day Off! Laptop went riiiight back into my bag and I situated myself for a nice session of probably 4 movies. Eventually I did get everything I needed done (no worries parents) but I enjoyed a little procrastination. Nothing like the adrenaline rush of not knowing if you'll finish an assignment in time! 11:59 due at midnight? Don't mind if I do!

Finally we arrived back in Florence around 12:20 and me and a few others I was with gathered our belongings as quick as possible then sprinted full speed ahead to a taxi, got in and used my best Italian--"Red Garter, rapidamente! rapidamente!" I don't actually know if rapidamente is an Italian word, but it definitely got the point across. And by kickoff we made it to the bar to watch our beloved Packers play in the Superbowl! By 4:30am we were headed back to the Villa, hearts racing, smiles plastered across our faces, and a constant GO PACK GO running through my mind. What a perfect ending to a perfect weekend.